Hat-holder.



No. 755,184: v PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

0. I. STERLING.

HAT HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1903.

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WITN ESSES.

INVENTOR.

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No. 755,184. PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

G. I. STERLING.

HAT HOLDER.

- APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1903.

no 110mm. I 2 sums-mum 2.

WITNESSES. I v INVENTOR.

Patented. March 22, 1904.

PATE T OFFICE.

CHARLES I. STERLING, OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT.

HAT-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,184, dated March 22, 1904.

' I Application filed 51111611, 1908. Serial N0." 160,998. (No model.)

To all whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES I. STERLING, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Norwalk, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Hat- Holder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention bodies while being operated upon by machines in the process of manufactureas, for example, while performing the operation variously termed trimming, planing, or paring the brimsthat is, paring off or removing from the edges of the brims of curled hat-bodies the surplus stock, leaving them ready for the operations of finishing.

It is of course well understood that it is necessary that a curled hat-body be held firmly and securely while an operation is being performed upon it, and, furthermore, that the holding device be such as to permit the convenient and speedy removal of a hat-body and the securing of another body in position to be operated upon; It is, furthermore, well understood that different holding devices are required for all the different sizes of hats, as well as for the different styles, when any variation is made from what may be termed the ordinary oval. 7

Various more or less complicated and expensive holding devices made of metal and of wood have heretofore been provided for this purpose. The expense of these devices, however, has been an important item of cost in the manufacture of hats.

My present invention enables me to provide simple and convenient holders for hat-bodies while being operated upon which may be made at slight expense as wanted and the only parts of which that have appreciable cost may be used over and over an unlimited number of times. i

With these and other objects in view my invention consists of' a hat-holdercomprising, essentially, a metallic base, a bed to receive a curled hat-body made of a plastic hard-settingcomposition, and locking-arms to retain a hatbody firmly in place on the bed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan relates to holdersfor hatand the flange.

View of my novel hat-holder in position to receive a body; Fig.2, a sideelevation showing a hat-body in .positionthe'reon; Fig. 3,

are for convenience shown in the locking position; and Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 4 4: in Fig. 1. A

A'denotes the base, B the bed, and C the locking-arms. The shapeof the base is of no special importance, the essential requirement being that it be so shaped as to provide a receptacle for a suitable plastic composition which is molded to the desired shape on the bed, as will presently be fully, explained. For convenience the base may be described, broadly, as comprising an attaching-plate, (specifically indicated by 10,) a body-flange, (indicated by 11,) which extends upward from the attaching-plate, and a brim-flange, (indicated by 12,) which extends outward from the body-flange. The body-flange, which in use extends upward into a hat-body, may have the general oval of a hat-body, but is made much smallerthan a hat-body, so as to leave space between the inner side of the smallest body The brim-flange is made to conform in general configuration with the side curls and end depressions of a hat-brim.

The brim -flange in practice is made wide enough and high enough at the sidesand low enough at the ends to provide for any style of curl and for any degree of end depression that may be required. In practice the attachingplate, body-flange, and brim-flange may all be cast in a single piece.

The operation of forming a bed fora hatbody is as follows: For each size and style of hat the operator takes as a pattern a hat-body of the required size and style and cements or otherwise rigidly secures it to a correspondplastic hard-setting composition upon the 100 base, said pattern as a whole being indicated by D. In Figs. 1 and 4 I have indicated the bed as formed by B; but in Fig. 3 I use the number 15 to indicate a plastic hard-setting composition from which the bed is molded. The special ingredients of this composition are not of the essence of the invention. Calcined gypsum, commonly known as plasterof-paris, is very cheap and is admirably adapted for this purpose, the composition being readily made more or less quick-drying and more or less hard-setting by the addition of other ingredients. l6 denotes set-screws which pass through the brim-flange and extend upward therefrom for the pattern to rest upon, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The operation of forming the bed consists simply in providing the pattern that is a hat-body of the required size and style secured in place upon a matrix, placing a suflicient quantity of a plastic composition in the base and then molding the bed in the composition, the pattern being pressed down into the composition until it rests upon the ends of the set-screws, which may of course be adjusted to suit the requirements of different patterns. Care is of course taken to provide a suflicient quantity of the composition to fill the space between the pattern and the outer side of the body-flange and the inner side of the brim-flange. As soon as the composition has begun to set the pattern may be removed, and the holder is ready for use as soon as the composition becomes set. For convenience I have indicated the bodyportion of the bed by 17 and the brim portion thereof by 18. It is obvious that in use the greatest wear will be upon the inner face of the brim portion at the top and upon the outer face of the body portion at the top. In order to protect these portions of the bed, upon which practically all of the Wear comes in use, I place a metallic protecting-ring 19, which must of course be made to size, on the outer face of the body portion, at the top, and a metallic protecting-ring 20,'likewise made to size, around the inner face of the brim portion, at the top, said rings being placed in the composition while it is plastic and being set to place therein by means of the pattern.

The special class of machines upon which my novel hat-holder is used and the manner of attachment to the machine is of course unimportant so far as the principle of the invention is concerned. In the present instance I have shown my novel hat-holder as clamped to a cross-piece 21, which is itself rigidly secured to a vertical shaft 22. The shaft is shown as extending through an opening 39 in the base, which is provided with another opening 40, which receives a lug 41 on the cross-piece. The base is secured in place by a plate 23, having a recess in one side, which receives a threaded rod 24, extending from the end of the shaft, a nut 25 engaging the rod and acting to clamp plate 23 downward upon the atcaching-plate and the end of the shaft, and thus lock the base in place, as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4.

The construction of the locking-arms will be readily understood from the drawings. The arms C are preferably provided with prongs or points 26, which engage a hat-brim to prevent the possibility of movement, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3, although it should be understood that in ordinary use'that is, after the bed is formedthe matrix, which is shown in Fig. 3, would not be used. The action of the prongs or points upon the arms in engaging a hat-brim would, however, be as illustrated. The arms are provided with slots 27 and are adjustably secured, by means of screws passing through these slots, to blocks 28, which are themselves rigidly secured to a plate 29. This plate is shown as provided with a knuckle 30, which incloses and is rigidly secured to a shaft 31, journaled in arms 32 upon a standard 33, which extends upward from and is rigidly secured to cross-piece 21. 34 denotes a pinion upon one end of shaft 31, which meshes with a corresponding pinion 35 on a short shaft 36, which is journaled in the standard. The pin ion is preferably secured to the shaft, which is provided with a groove, and is retained in place by a pin engaging the groove, the groove being indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. It should be understood, however, that the special details of construction are wholly unimportant so far as the principle of the invention is concerned. Shaft 36 is shown as provided with a hand-lever 37 for convenience in operation. In order to lock the arms in any position in which they may be placed, the hand-lever is so shaped as to engage a rack 38, which is secured to'the standard. It will be understood, of course, that the locking-arms and the mechanisms by which they are thrown into and out of operative position are duplicated on opposite sides of the holder.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. A hat-holder comprising a metallic base and a stationary bed to receive a curled hatbody formed on said base, said bed comprising a plastic hard-setting composition.

2. A hat-holder consisting of a metallic base, a stationary bed to receive a curled hat-body formed on said base, said bed comprising a plastic hard-setting composition and means for retaining a hat-body in place on the bed.

3. A hat-holder consisting of a metallic base, a bed to receive a curled hat-body formed therein of plastic hard-setting composition and pivoted locking-arms which retain a hat-body firmly in place on the bed.

4. A hat-holder consisting of a metallic base, a bed to receive a curled hat-body formed therein of plastic hard-setting composition and having protecting-rings on the outer face of the body portion at the top and around the inner face of the brim portion at the top molded therein, and means for retainingahat-body in place on the bed.

5. A hat-holder comprising ametallic base consisting of an attaching-plate, a body-flange and a brim-flange, a bed to receive a curled hat-body formed in said base of plastic hardsetting composition and means for retaining a hat in place on the bed. 6. The combination with a shaft having a threaded rod extending from the end thereof and a cross-piece secured thereto and having a lug extending therefrom, of a hat-holder consisting of a metallic base,-a bed to receive a curled hat-body formed therein, said base having an opening through which the shaft extends and an opening to receive the lug, a plate having a recess in one side to receive the threaded rod andresting upon the end of the shaft and the base and a nut upon the rod by which the plate is locked inplace.

7 A hat-holder consisting of a metallic base,

a bed to receive a curled hat-body formed therein, locking-arms on opposite sides of the ative position.

9. A hatholder having a molded bed for I supporting the brim of a hat, said bed com prising a plastic hard-setting composition.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence'of two witnesses.

CHARLES I. STERLING.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM T. FARRELL, JACOB M. LAYTON. 

